Earnings Watch: TV networks report as streaming services gain groundCBS (CBS), Time Warner (TWX), Viacom (VIA, VIAB), and 21st Century Fox (FOX, FOXA) are among TV network companies expected to report quarterly results over the next several weeks, with Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) already having reported before the open on July 23. EXPECTATIONS: Time Warner is expected to report EPS of $1.03 on revenue of $6.9B, CBS is expected to report EPS of 73c on revenue of $3.22B, Viacom is expected to report EPS of $1.47 on revenue of $3.22B, and 21st Century Fox is expected to report EPS of 37c on revenue of $6.48B. LAST QUARTER: CBS, Time Warner, and Fox all reported stronger than expected Q1 results, while Viacom reported higher than expected Q2 EPS but missed on revenue. THIS WEEK'S EARNINGS: On the morning of July 23, Comcast reported Q2 EPS of 84c in line with estimates, and revenue of $18.7B versus expectations for $18.14B. Cable customer relationships for the quarter were up 31,000 to 27.3M, driven by increases in double and triple product relationships. During a subsequent conference call, the company noted that TV viewership continues to be under pressure. NEWS: At Re/code's Code Conference on May 27, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves remarked that his network will "probably" sign up for Apple's (AAPL) rumored TV service, and on June 3, CBS announced that its Showtime network will be offered over the internet as a stand-alone streaming service launching in early July for a monthly price of $10.99, with Apple as its first partner. On July 1, Variety quoted sources as saying Viacom was attempting to entice advertisers by offering to construct social-media and digital extensions of traditional TV ad campaigns as the company seeks to move away from Nielsen-based advertising sales. On July 8, the Wall Street Journal reported that Viacom's Paramount Pictures reached an agreement with AMC (AMC) to accelerate the home release of movies, noting that the company hoped to implement the quickened schedule for all new releases beginning later in the year. On July 17, Re/code reported that Viacom held talks to acquire e-commerce and media company Thrillist Media, according to sources. On June 17, 21st Century Fox named James Murdoch as CEO, with founder and former chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch appointed executive co-chairman alongside Lachlan Murdoch. The Telegraph reported on June 20 that Fox rejected offers for its stake in Sky (SKYAY) from Vodafone (VOD) and Vivendi (VIVHY), potentially signalling an interest in outright purchasing the rest of Sky, according to the report. More recently, the European Commission announced on July 23 that it delivered a statement of objections to Sky and various film studios owned by Comcast, Viacom, Fox, Time Warner, Disney (DIS), and Sony (SNE), discussing anti-trust concerns due to limitations on country-by-country availability of pay-TV services. STREET RESEARCH: On May 12, Pacific Crest said it believes Apple will launch its TV service before the end of the year, saying the move should benefit TV networks as well as Apple itself. On June 24, Brean Capital said Facebook's (FB) agreement with Time Warner to host premier episodes of certain upcoming shows was "a trend worth following," and possibly indicative of Facebook hosting additional TV content in the future. Also on June 24, FBR Capital contended that Netflix (NFLX) was on pace to have a larger 24-hour audience than all traditional broadcast networks, where ratings are seeing declines on average, according to the research firm. Those comments were followed by a July 10 note on Netflix from Morgan Stanley, saying the subscription streaming service was seeing higher time spent per day than any single broadcast network. Moving away from the Netflix factor, on July 10, JPMorgan said CBS shares looked "very attractive" following a recent selloff, though the company saw a downgrade on July 20 from Pivotal, which cited higher costs of capital among other factors. Finally, Citi upgraded Viacom on July 16 to Neutral, citing recent underperformance in the company's shares heading into earnings season.

Vodafone reports Q1 Group revenue GBP 10.11BReports Q3 service revenue GBP 9.17B, down 0.9% on a reported basis and up 3.3% on an organic basis. Reports continued recovery in Europe: Germany -1.2%*, UK 0.2%*, Italy -2.0%*, Spain -5.5%. CEO Vittorio Colao commented, ". Our emerging markets have maintained their strong momentum and more of our European businesses are returning to growth, as customer demand for 4G and data takes off. We continue to hit our Project Spring build milestones and customers are beginning to value the improvement in service that is resulting: contract churn in Europe is now falling and mobile ARPU trends are stabilising in a number of key markets."

Earnings Watch: Verizon to report Q2 results after AOL acquisitionVerizon Communications (VZ) is expected to report second quarter earnings before the market open on Tuesday, July 21, with a conference call scheduled for 8:30 am ET. Verizon is a holding company providing communications, information and entertainment. EXPECTATIONS: Analysts are looking for earnings per share of $1.01 on revenue of $32.45B, according to First Call. The consensus range for EPS is 93c-$1.05 on revenue of $31.75B-$33.0B. LAST QUARTER: Verizon reported first quarter EPS of $1.02 against estimates for 95c on revenue of $32B against estimates for $32.27B. Verizon Wireless had 565,000 retail postpaid net additions in Q1, a 4.8% increase compared with first-quarter 2014. At the end of Q1, the company had 108.6M retail connections, a 5.1% year-over-year increase, and had 102.6M retail postpaid connections. The company added 621,000 4G smartphones to its customer base in Q1. In light of a net decline in 3G smartphones, overall smartphone growth totaled 247,000. The company also added 820,000 4G tablets and reported net declines of 385,000 basic phones and 188,000 prepaid devices in Q1. 4G devices now constitute approximately 70% of the retail postpaid connections base, up from 49% a year ago – with the 4G LTE network handling about 86% of total wireless data traffic in Q1. At 1.03% in Q1, retail postpaid churn improved both sequentially and year over year. Retail postpaid smartphone customer churn was less than 0.9%. Verizon added 133K net new FiOS Internet, and 90K net new FiOS Video connections in Q1. Verizon had totals of 6.7M FiOS Internet and 5.7M FiOS Video connections at the end of the first quarter, representing year-over-year increases of 9.4% and 7.9%, respectively. CEO Lowell McAdam said, “We are confident in our ability to maintain momentum and continue to add value for customers and shareholders.” On May 12, Verizon announced it would acquire AOL for $50 per share, or $4.4B. The transaction was completed on June 23. On May 19, speaking at the JPMorgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, CFO Fran Shammo said he expects net phone additions in Q2. ANALYST REACTION: Street research has been mostly mixed in the weeks leading up to Verizon’s Q2 earnings report. On May 12, Macquarie downgraded Verizon to Underperform from Neutral with a $45 price target to reflect a weaker 2016 and 2017 earnings outlook. The firm's analyst believed management has made a series of questionable strategic moves beginning with the Vodafone (VOD) deal that will depress earnings. Recent advertising promotions are likely to pressure 2015 margins and ARPU and LTE capacity issues are expected in certain markets later in the year. Macquarie is surprised Verizon shares have held in around $50 with treasury yields rising and increasing Q2 promotions and does not believe this is sustainable ahead of a reset in consensus estimates. Conversely, on July 9, Stifel resumed coverage of Verizon with a Buy rating and price target of $60 per share. PRICE ACTION: Verizon’s shares are down about 3% since the company's Q1 report. Over the past twelve months, they are down about 5.7%. In afternoon trading ahead of Tuesday's Q2 report, Verizon’s shares are up 0.6%.